Ai Kanzaki -- Ai no Refrain（愛のリフレイン）

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Outside of the video and ending theme song that will be heard by you below and the poster above, that's all I could find of the early 1990s TV Tokyo historical drama "Edo Nakamachi Bugyoujo"（江戸中町奉行所...The Nakamachi Magistrate's Office of Edo）. I can only assume that it deals with samurai dealing out their own brand of double-edged justice to evildoers in Edo Era Japan. 

Up to now, I've featured singer-actress Ai Kanzaki（神崎愛）singing her early 1980s fare of City Pop (which has currently been excised due to copyright strikes) and Fashion Music. So it was with some surprise that I discovered that Kanzaki had also been one of the cast for "Edo Nakamachi Bugyoujo" (I'm assuming that's her in the video thumbnail...usually I would imagine her holding a flute instead of a katana). Another surprise is that she sings the theme song for the first season of the show titled "Ai no Refrain".

Considering the name of the singer, I can translate the title as "Ai's Refrain" or "Love's Refrain". But let's assume that Ms. Kanzaki was never self-serving and go with the latter translation. Without knowing the release year of 1990 initially, I had thought that the song was heading into Fashion Music territory but the arrangement just had that urbane sophistication (but with no City Pop groove), and then when I did read up on its 1990 release, I concluded that this was more along the lines of New Adult Music of that decade which mixed some of the traditional enka/Mood Kayo with more pop stylings, usually of that sophisticated brand. Lyricist Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）and composer Keisuke Hama（浜圭介）were responsible for its creation.

In any case, it's quite the song for a samurai drama. I would usually think that something like "Ai no Refrain" would be used as the ending theme for a contemporary mystery/suspense drama or a cop show.

Ai Kanzaki -- Bridge（橋）

 

I've used this photo before but just to remind readers, this is the pedestrian bridge spanning between Kinokuniya Books and what used to be Tokyu Hands in the Times Square complex in South Shinjuku. I used to traverse it a lot since I often had things that I had wanted to purchase in both stores.

All this for the flute-softened song "Bridge" by singer and flutist Ai Kanzaki（神崎愛）. This is once again from her 1980 debut album "Today" and it's a pretty jaunty and sunny track by lyricist Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and composer Yasuo Higuchi（樋口康雄）. In her brief file on KKP thus far, I've noticed that Kanzaki's voice could go from low and sultry to high and playful. Perhaps with "Bridge", her vocals travel to a medium state between those two ends. Melodically, the song itself hovers in its own medium state dipping tantalizingly into jazz, City Pop and New Music. Ultimately, I opted for that last genre. 

Ai Kanzaki -- Today

 

Still a bit miffed that the first two entries in the Ai Kanzaki（神崎愛）file have had to be put into mothballs because their videos got cease-and-desisted into oblivion. However, we move on and plus, there are still the two remaining articles including the most recent one from May for "Koibito-tachi no Rondo"（恋人たちのロンド）.

If I'm not mistaken, all of the entries for Kanzaki have ended up on her 1980 debut album "Today ~ Kanzaki Ai First" （TODAY/神崎愛ファースト）, and I've gotten the impression that the album veers between City Pop and slightly headier New Music. "Koibito-tachi no Rondo" does the New Music thing, but I think another one from "Today" is the title track that takes things straight into Fashion Music land. I could only find out that Yasuo Higuchi（樋口康雄）was the composer and arranger for "Today" which begins somewhat like a sad 1970s pop ballad but then it evolves into a classy waltz for a romantic couple in some Lichtenstein castle. Along the way, it even picks up some Bacharach in the brass. Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）would be so jealous!😇

Ai Kanzaki -- Koibito-tachi no Rondo（恋人たちのロンド）

 

Maintenance of a blog can sometimes bring up some unfortunate truths. For one thing, the elimination of videos for the first couple of articles of a pretty obscure singer. And indeed, that has happened to singer, flutist and actress Ai Kanzaki（神崎愛）. So, at this point, I've had to put her two City Pop offerings back into mothballs until those videos come back.

Right now then, I just have the one active article depicting her 1980 single "Sentakusen"（洗濯船）which lays more on the border between Fashion Music and New Music. As I stated there, it's rather chaise lounge-friendly and has more of that classy exotic kayo feeling. The B-side though is the topic of this article for Kanzaki. "Koibito-tachi no Rondo" (Lovers' Rondo) has a bit more oomph but it's also whimsical to a nearly comical degree as Kanzaki vocally takes on a higher and squeakier tone, although some of those chord changes are pretty cool. It's almost as if she's singing this half-drunk in some French bar. Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）was the lyricist here with Ken Sato（佐藤健）and Yasuo Higuchi（樋口康雄）taking care of the melody and arrangement respectively.

Ai Kanzaki -- Sentakusen（洗濯船）

Wikipedia

 

The above is a photo of the Parisian apartment that has been nicknamed Bateau-Lavoir. It looks rather gussied up and stylish now but a century ago, it was pretty ratty-looking. In fact, the humble abode got its nickname from the fact that its rickety structure back then tended to sway back and forth during storms just like old washing boats on the Seine which is what Bateau-Lavoir means in English: washhouse boat.

Now, why would this place in the 18th arrondissement of the City of Lights get even a mention in Wikipedia? Well for folks who are into art and art history, Bateau-Lavoir was the residence for many an artist and literary people including Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau.

The apartment has its own name in Japanese, too. It's known as Sentakusen which also literally means "washing boat". Not sure if a lot of Japanese tourists have been drawn to Bateau-Lavoir but at the very least, a song was created in tribute to it. In 1980, singer and flautist Ai Kanzaki（神崎愛）released a 1980 single called "Sentakusen" which was written by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）, composed by Yasuo Higuchi（樋口康雄）and arranged by Osamu Shouji（東海林修）.

Now of course, this is Friday which is always Urban Contemporary Day on KKP and when I saw Kanzaki's name attached to this song, I thought "City Pop" based on what I've heard from her through songs like "Pandora no Hako"（パンドラの箱）. But this time, I have to say that "Sentakusen" isn't really City Pop at all unless the city is Paris. It can fall under the label of New Music in the more specific area of chaise lounge-friendly Fashion Music or maybe I can even categorize it as an especially classy version of exotic kayo.

If by chance, any of you readers have ever visited Bateau-Lavoir, let us know what you thought of it.